If the Commanders had the first pick in the NFL Draft they should choose...?

burgold

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Let's remove all the caveats. If the Commanders had the first pick and could take any player available in the upcoming draft who would you want for them? Who would be your best player available pick and who would be your best needs pick? Now, no cheating. You are not allowed to say you are trading the first to the Raiders or Jets for a boatload of picks unless it's for pick 2 (since pick 2 is the same as pick 1 for us. None of us is drafting Mendoza.)

What's interesting is that, for me, I don't know that my wish list at 7 is really very different from my wish list at 1, but I am curious which player you would really want if you could grab anyone.

Here's my thought process:

Arvelle Reese is not my guy. I don't like how his production seemed to tail off during the second half of the season. I think there is a degree of projection just based on traits. He may be amazing. He may be a specimen whose on field play never equals his abilities.

Bailey: Very well could be my guy. I think QB pressure and sack ability is key. As for not playing the run well enough, I think that's true of a lot of top edges who only have eyes for the QB. Would you draft a young Von Miller? He seems to have the knack and has had the knack two years in a row.

Jeremiah Love: Traits and production. Could be a superstar. It's been decades since a running back was taken first, but if he's the best player and a game changer then why not. Hard to see holes in his game.

Sonny Styles: The recent analysis about his tackling weakness concerns me, but this is another guy who seems to bei perfect traits plus perfect production. Has a middle linebacker ever been taken first? I don't know. I doubt it, but it feels like he has got it. More, he's played one year at linebacker so he's probably at the floor of his ability. We haven't seen him when he truly gets rolling.

I think those three would be my chief prospects. It's possible that none of them will be available at 7. I've seen mock drafts where each of them fall to us.

Who would you take at 1?
 
burgold said:
Ya broke the rules of the thread lol. I covered that in the first paragraph lol.
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Might be breaking the rules, but that is the only real answer here. We aren’t in the QB market, there is a very clear #1 QB and a lot of not much there after him. You would get a King’s ransom. This is a no brainer and honestly the only real answer in this class.
 
Ok. So say you had the #2 pick…😉

IMG_0230.jpeg
 
In Order, I think Love, Downs, Bailey, Styles. I would not be disappointed with any of them. It would be fun to add Loves playmaking skills to the O, but in reality if Terry got hurt again defenses would revert to crowding the box because Chig and Love are short field playmakers. Adding BA to the mix would definitely make me most comfortable with Picking a RB.
I fell in love with Downs since we started the draft thread.
 
It is an interesting answer.

The puzzle I was basically working on was if you could pick anyone in the draft without worrying if they would be there who would you pick. KDawg's unambiguous answer is "No one."

There's no one he thinks is worth picking first.
 
With the second overall pick, I'd PROBABLY pick whoever was deemed the absolute best DE/Edge in the draft, assuming that player grades out at least as the same level as Downs or Styles. I'm not sure I'm qualified to make that determination.

- I think 2 is too high to pick a RB, unless you are absolutely confident they are Walter Payton or Marshall Faulk. If you think Love is Marshall Faulk, then I'd just stick and pick and try to implement the 2026 version of the Greatest Show on Turf for the next 5 years. But I don't think Love is Faulk. (And that's not a knock on Love. But Faulk was a special kind of special.)
- We don't need an OT, and I'm not entirely sure any of the OTs on the board are really worthy of a top 5 pick, I think position value is pushing them up a bit.
- I think when the grades are all done, the top DE would be higher rated than Tate or any WR.
- Same sortof thought with Downs, unless it's Ed Reed, I'm not picking a safety at 2. I'm more confident Downs is not Reed than I am that Love is not Faulk.
- Styles is interesting. He has less position value than an edge. So, I'm going to assume the highest ranked Edge is higher rated than Styles.

And that's why I think I get to whoever the highest rated Edge is. And I don't know who that would be, different evaluators all have different opinions, and I am not good enough to know which is the best...
 
burgold said:
It is an interesting answer.

The puzzle I was basically working on was if you could pick anyone in the draft without worrying if they would be there who would you pick. KDawg's unambiguous answer is "No one."

There's no one he thinks is worth picking first.
Click to expand...

That’s not entirely true.

I think Mendoza is worth one. I think Love the player is worth 1.

Here’s the problem: if there is a QB worth 1 and you have 1 and don’t need a QB… you’d be insane to stick and pick.

There is an extremely large percentage chance that the guys near you (2nd/3rd/4th picks) need a QB real bad. Maybe not everyone, but at least one of them. And they’d be willing to give up something to ensure they get the QB. Even the team at 2 has to wonder, especially in this draft.

“Gee, they don’t need a QB, this is perfect. We’ll get our guy at 2… but wait… what if they trade it to someone else? We have to trade up!”

In that scenario, you are almost always trading down regardless - simply because you’ll still get your pick of elite talent, but you’ll acquire additional capital to use to trade for players or draft players.

The question just can’t exist in a vacuum.

If the question was phrased, “who is worth #1 based on talent” my answer is easy:

Mendoza and Love. That’s it. That’s the list (in my opinion).

Some will put Bailey in the mix, or maybe even Reese. But I don’t think those guys are worth that high of a selection.

And because Love is a RB, some teams would be terrified of drafting him that high because their fan bases would revolt and the media would clown them for weeks, even if it turns out to be a good pick.

I think you could, in this class specifically, get Love at 3 with almost no issues because of how highly rated a lot of teams have Bailey (and of course Mendoza).

Almost a lock.

That’s why I said I’d pick Love third.

It’s almost a lock he’d be available.

But talent wise? Who is worth the first? Jeremiyah Love and Francisco Mendoza.
 
Can we take Mendoza and trade him?

Seriously though, while I recognize that the consensus is to take the top edge rusher, I would probably take Love. I really think he could be the next Reggie Bush or even Marshall Faulk, huge impact offensive weapon.
 
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